Evaluating Resources: Home
Domain Authority
What does the domain reveal about a website's true purpose? The domain is the primary web address for a site, usually composed of the last portion of the address, i.e. nasa.gov or nineplanets.org.
The first three sites below are all "IRS" sites, but only one actually represents the government agency.
Tip: WHOIS behind that domain? identifies the registered owner of a website.
| .gov | Government agency: www.irs.gov |
| .net | Network provider: www.slideshare.net/ |
| .com | Commercial site: www.irs.com |
| .edu | Higher education: www.indwes.edu |
| .mil | Military site: www.navy.mil |
| .org | Organization, may be charitable, religious or a lobbying group: www.unicef.org |
Five Criteria for Evaluating Sources
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Purpose
• What stated goals or objectives does this resource meet?
• Is its purpose commercial, educational, informative or personal?
• How detailed and factual is the information versus opinion-based?
• Is the information balanced or colored with a political, commercial, or
religious point of view?
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Authority
• If a website, does the domain indicate what type of institution published it?
• Is the resource from a peer-reviewed journal or published by a scholarly or
educational organization?
• Is the author identifiable and someone other than a "webmaster"?
• Does the author/publisher list qualifications, and can they be verified?
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Accuracy
• Does the author provide facual information verifiable in other resources?
• Is the information clear, legible, well organized and error-free?
• Does the author cite his/her sources? Are research methods explained?
• Is an editor, reviewer or collaborator named who verified content?
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Coverage
• Are topics in this resource analyzed in depth or just summarized?
• Does the resource cover all aspects of a topic or state the criteria for
select coverage?
• Does this work substantiate other sources or update other information?
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Currency
• When was the resource produced and/or updated?
• If the resource is a website, are the links active and current?
• Is the resource referenced by other sources?
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Hoaxes!
Hoaxes present a continuing challenge to evaluating information on the Internet.
Several examples of organizations and their websites are given below to test your Evaluation IQ.
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RYT Hospital |
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The Ova Prima Foundation |
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World Trade Organization |
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Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division |
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GenoChoice |
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McWhortle Enterprises, Inc. |
